


Catching the Wind

by midorimortem



Category: One Piece
Genre: Day At The Beach, Devil Fruit's Curse, F/M, Fear of Drowning, Platonic Romance, Romantic Fluff, Swimming at sea, Walks On The Beach
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-03-08 05:15:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,223
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26966557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midorimortem/pseuds/midorimortem
Summary: Perona loves the beach, but she’s never been there. Mihawk is good at surprises.
Relationships: Dracule Mihawk & Perona, Dracule Mihawk/Perona
Comments: 12
Kudos: 37





	1. As birds catching the wind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration: Malibu- Miley Cyrus.

Perona had never been to the beach. It bothered her that she couldn’t swim, but she wanted to go anyway. Master Moria always discarded her idea when nothing interesting happened at Thriller Bark and she insisted on going on a trip, because, f _or heaven’s sake, Perona, we live on a ship, why would you want to go to the beach to see the ocean?! We live in the ocean!_ And just like that the discussion always ended abruptly. 

But she had seen the pictures in books and she liked to daydream about it. Of the sun kissing her skin, of warm water bathing her feet as she walked by the sand. She imagined herself building sand castles and braiding her hair with seashells, and, perhaps, if she hadn’t eaten a Devil Fruit, she imagined herself splashing into the deep sea water, swimming with little fishies all around her.

What a beautiful dream. But it was just that. A dream.

However, when she tasted freedom for the first time, she ran to the shores of Kuraigana Island the moment she had the chance. Mihawk and Zoro thought she intended to run, but in reality she wanted to explore. She was harshly disappointed to find herself on a desolate wasteland of shipwrecks, with horrible rocky sand and ghastly cold water that invited no one to jump into it. She hated it so much she returned to her room and never spoke of it with either swordsmen.

It had been almost a year since her first exploration trip, but she didn’t lose hope. She explored each nook and cranny of the island’s shores in hopes of finding a single sunbathed spot, to no avail. She was tired of it all, that she began to lose faith she’d ever make it.

But one day, when Perona returned home after a shopping trip, she found the warlord waiting for her in their living room. He tossed her a large backpack that didn’t weigh as much as she thought it would.

“What is this for?” She asked, still confused.

“You’ll see. Now hurry and leave those things in your room. We’re going out.” 

Perona moved swiftly and when she walked back down, she found he had already loaded another backpack and a large wicker basket into the Coffin-Boat. Stranged, Perona rode into the boat and let the Warlord set the course, sitting besides him as a cold breeze began to blow. They didn’t speak during most of the trip, but Perona began to grow impatient. She wanted to ask what was the plan, but she didn’t dare. She was sure Mihawk wouldn’t answer her question, either.

But after an hour or so, they arrived. It was around 4pm and the weather had suddenly warmed up. It was no longer the rainy and cold climate of the island, but a welcoming warmth that felt like an embrace. She blinked several times as she realized what had happened: Mihawk had brought her to the beach.

“Why?” She asked, turning around as her bare feet touched the sand after she removed her high-heel boots. Inside the backpack he’d tossed her minutes ago, she found a pair of sandals and a bathing suit she’d bought a long time ago but never used.

“I followed you one day while you were exploring. And I’ve seen that sad look in your eyes while you’re painting, and you’re always picturing sunsets at the beach. So, I assumed you’d like this.”

“N-no, no, don’t get me wrong. I love it. But… why did you do it?”

“I wanted to see you smile.”

“You brought me here just because you wanted to see me smile.?”

“Yes. Just because.”

“Just because.” Perona repeated after him and smiled, nodding.


	2. Lingering in the Ocean Blue / On Golden Sand is Where I Lay

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying new things is scary, but doing so while being cursed is terrifying. However, nothing can go wrong when you have a cherished and trusted friend there to teach you how to beat your worst fears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration: Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride - Mark Kealiʻi, from Lilo & Stitch OST

Sometimes, Perona envied those without a curse so much. In those first few memories she had from childhood, she was already cursed by her Devil Fruit; she didn’t even remember when she ate it. Her former captain would usually tell her he found her like that, already powerful and haunted, but something inside the Ghost Princess believed Moria wasn’t telling her the entire truth. Whichever it was, and given the fact that he was also cursed by his own Devil Fruit, he never taught her how to swim.

It wasn’t like she could even try it now, but Perona could only dream. It was quite a surprise that Mihawk seemed just as eager as she was to jump into the water when they arrived at the little deserted beach, that Perona couldn’t help but smile when her companion resurfaced after cannonballing into the sea. It was one of those rare occasions when he smiled a genuine smile.

The island he had taken her was not far away from Kuraigana, but it seemed to be mostly deserted. There was a single shack close to the shore, made from driftwood and palm wood, where they went inside separately to change their clothes and to place most of their belongings on a safe place instead of leaving them on the sand where they could drift away. 

There wasn’t much to see inside, besides a single bed and a nightstand, but Perona noticed that some of the decorations inside the shack resembled those back at their castle, which led her to deduce the feeble construction had been built by Mihawk some time in the past. There were a couple of neatly carved surfing boards outside the cabin, but they looked like they had not been used for quite some time. This beach seemed to be one of his secret spots where he liked to go alone. He didn’t explain much, but Perona didn’t ask either. It was just perfect like that, but... it would be even more perfect if she could join him.

He’d left Yoru stuck on the sand besides the spot where Perona had laid down a couple of beach towels, and she placed her large red umbrella besides it, to have some shade from the merciless sunlight beaming above them. From her resting place, Perona could see him swimming eagerly, disappearing within the waves and bracing against the current. She imagined that perhaps he came around this place quite frequently, to have a swim instead of training, which helped him have such great stamina. For all the time she had seen him practice against Zoro, Mihawk never seemed to tire or feel exhausted, even if he doubled Zoro’s age.

Lost in thought, she barely registered that he was coming out of the water, removing some of it from his face with his hands and shaking head slightly to dry off his hair and beard. He looked kinda dreamy, she had to admit. Perona thought he was going to take a break and sit besides her for a while, but instead, Mihawk stretched a hand in front of her and kept that dumb puppy smile she had never seen before.

“Come with me.”

“I can’t swim, you know that.”

“You can’t go underwater, but I bet you can swim, as long as you keep your head up.” The swordsman insisted and lunged besides her, roaming inside his backpack for something. After a minute or so, he took out a pair of pink armbands and handed them to her. “Here, just in case. These will keep you afloat.”

“You got these just for me?”

“I wouldn’t have picked the pink ones for myself.”

Perona laughed and, quite nervously, she placed them around the upper part of her arms. Using a small Wind Dial, they were ready to go in about a minute. She felt her legs tremble as she stood up, and she grabbed Mihawk’s hand as strong as she could as he walked her into the ocean. She tried to keep her cool, but she was clearly failing.

“Don’t be nervous, it’s easy.”

“Hm! Easy for you to say, you won’t drown if something goes wrong.” She said, trembling a bit more violently as the water began pulling her body deeper into the sea. She could feel the ocean wasn’t glad to have her as a guest and it kept trying to pull her down, but Mihawk’s steady grip didn’t let the ocean take hold of her, and the armbands did a wonderful job in keeping her afloat.

“If you feel it’s pulling too hard on you, we can go back. Hold onto me.” He extended both arms and Perona awkwardly took his hands, but she enjoyed the lack of pressure from trying to kick and brace against the waves to save her life. 

After a few minutes of staying still, letting Mihawk move them both across the water, he turned around and piggybacked her, making Perona’s heart skip a beat. He began to swim swiftly and he dived quickly beneath the water, making sure the girl always remained above the surface.

“Hawk Eyes, it’s not a good idea! You’re getting too close to the bigger waves! I… I can’t...” She said, panicking and almost choking him a bit, holding for dear life to his neck. Perona hadn’t even noticed she had begun to kick as he swam, helping to move faster.

“Trust me.” He said and pushed her hands away carefully, but he didnt’ let go.

“I’m scared!”

“I know. That’s why I want you to trust me.”

There was no reason not to do it, Perona thought. He was reliable and strong, and clearly he knew what he was doing. She wondered if she had been the first person he taught how to swim, or if she was even the first Devil Fruit user he brought to this place. A thousand thoughts ran through her mind at the moment, but the best she could do was nod and hold his hands as strong as she could. Mihawk nodded back and carried her on his back again, and faced the waves bravely.

When they swam against the first big wave that crashed against them, Perona knew her friend was caught off guard. She felt it too. As soon as she was completely beneath the water, she could feel the pull of the ocean on her body, as if a pair of invisible hands had taken hold of her ankles and kept pulling down violently. 

Mihawk had expected to swim against the current and resurface just as quickly and swiftly as he ever did, but this time he had to fight against a mysterious curse while carrying a woman holding for dear life against his back. But, surprisingly, he managed. 

Perona was pretty much sure he had begun to use Haki at some point, because the aura around him changed, but he pulled them both out of the water and kept swimming against the waves. There was no time to rest, so he kept pushing and pushing until… the water calmed down again.

“We’ve reached a calm belt.” He explained, forcing her to let go of him, but keeping one of her hands on his. “You can float normally again.”

“I felt like I was going to die, Hawk Eyes, it was awful!” She complained, squeezing his arms out of fear.

“Yeah, I got nervous too. I didn’t imagine it would really try to drown you.” He admitted, and Perona thought it was strange he said that because he looked like it was Christmas morning and he had received all the gifts.

“Well… thanks for saving me anyway. Try to be more careful next time, I think I’d rather stay by the shore.”

“Are you sure?” He said, making her turn around towards the horizon. The sun had begun to set and the sky was tainted in many beautiful colors that also painted the ocean in bright purples, pinks and oranges. “You don’t get this view from the shore.”

Perona let out a surprised breath and stared for a few minutes, but then she remembered she was floating on a dangerous, massive body of water, which had proven that wanted her dead many times today, so she tugged his arm and pointed back at the beach with her head.

Mihawk nodded and pulled her towards the waves again, but their way back was easier than their adventure from before. They walked back towards the shack after picking their belongings from the sand, and Perona had barely noticed they had not let go of each other’s hands until each grabbed their sword and their umbrella, respectively. She blushed slightly, but Mihawk either didn’t notice or didn’t care much.

“Tomorrow I’ll teach you how to surf.” He said nonchalantly as he opened the wooden door of their little refuge, but Perona squealed and shook her head, slapping his shoulder with childish anger.

“Over my dead body!” She screamed, but her smile betrayed her. She really liked their little yet very dangerous and deadly escapade, so she wouldn’t mind another adventure as long as Hawk Eyes was there to save her from herself.


	3. Be the Ocean Where I Unravel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The trip comes to an end, but Perona is thankful she came.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspiration: I Follow Rivers- Lykke Li

Mihawk thought it was quite unusual for Perona to wish to stay for the entirety of the weekend, because she was very fond of the gloomy and lonely castle they shared. However, she insisted she wanted to be by the sun as much as she could. To the swordsman’s better judgement, the girl had spent most of her youth on a decrepit artificial island on the Florian Triangle where sunlight was strictly forbidden. It would be quite natural that she wanted to win back as much time as she could whenever she had her chances.

That morning had been amusing, even if Perona didn’t agree with him. Mihawk nagged at her for hours, insisting that he could teach her how to surf. The Ghost Princess refused for a long time, until she got fed up and insisted that if she drowned, she’d come back to haunt him and annoy him for the rest of his days. He laughed, but managed to make her sit on the surfboard for a couple of minutes before she headed back to the shore and let him have fun on his own.

He eventually felt tired and decided it was better to rest for a while. He found her beneath the shade of her large red umbrella, sketching some pictures into a little blank notebook he’d been mindful to place inside her backpack before leaving the castle. Mihawk sat beside her and they both kept silent for a long while, only listening to the sound of the waves and the rustling of Perona’s pencils against the paper. 

“I’m going to take a nap”, she said, packing the sketchbook and pencils in her bag and dusting the sand away from her clothes. Her skin had begun to tan, but it was obvious that if she stayed any longer she’d begin to burn, so it was a smart decision to go into the shed to shield herself from the sun.

“Then I’m heading out for something to eat for dinner.” He said, standing up as well and taking his shirt along with Yoru. Perona stared at him in confusion, since he’d brought more than enough food for two days and it was locked down in the shed, safely guarded. “Ah, there’s a small village on the other side of the beach. It’s about 20 minutes from here. The villagers check my shed is safe every couple of days, so I bring them vegetables and wine from the island in return. They always say I’m too generous, so they give me some extra fish and seafood when I come around.”

“That’s actually really nice of you.”

“It’s a good deal.”

“Here, take the umbrella, I don’t want you to burn in the sun too.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t burn.”

“Are you sure? I’m impressed you didn’t turn to dust.”

“Very funny.” He said with a grimace and ruffled her hair before leaving. “Sleep tight, princess.”

* * * 

Mihawk really liked when Perona slept. She looked peaceful, her breath heaving her chest up and down as she rested atop the bed in fetal position, still clad in her two-piece swimsuit with a thin blanket covering her body. What he liked the most was that she was silent, a very rare occasion to be cherished. 

However, he’d taken longer than he expected at the villa, and the food would run cold if he didn’t wake her up. The swordsman grabbed her by the shoulder and shook her slightly until she opened her eyes. She seemed a bit lost, taking a few seconds to regain full consciousness.

“Were you gone for long?” She asked, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hands. 

“Yes, night fell a few minutes ago. I got stuck at the villa talking with the locals. There have been sightings of bandits and they wanted me to take care of it.”

“And did you?”

“I told them I’d come back later this week, I’m taking a break with a special friend right now.”

“Hmm, I’d like to meet her, she seems like a nice person.” Perona mocked, smiling as she sat up on the bed and covered her shoulders with the light blanket, feeling slightly exposed.

“She’s not that great, she is kinda needy and demands constant attention.” Perona pouted, but he laughed and handed her a basket filled with local tropical fruits and a pair of freshly fried fish skewers. “Let’s go for a walk while we eat this.”

The girl nodded and stood up, her legs a little numb from the stupor, but she held his arm for balance and let the blanket down on the bed. Mihawk opened the shed’s door and held it open for her to go through, but she stopped as a chilly breeze sent a shiver all across her body. She went back inside and intended to grab the blanket back, but the swordsman tossed her his shirt before she could reach the bed.

“You will get cold”, she said, slightly worried for him, but Mihawk shook his head and insisted he was fine, the long walk back had warmed him up just fine.

Perona smiled, placing the white shirt over her shoulders and rolling the sleeves up her arms, since he was quite taller than her. She fixed the ruffled neck and enjoyed the soft smell it had. Strange as it was, she didn’t mind if Mihawk’s cologne stuck to her skin for tonight.

As they made their way through the sand, the Ghost Princess stared above of them into the sky drenched with stars. A crescent moon smiled back at them, illuminating their way across the sea. Perona bit into her skewer while she kept the fruit basket on her other arm, letting it hang freely as they walked. As minutes passed, the fish and the fruit disappeared and only an empty basket remained, then Mihawk decided it would be better if they walked back to the shed to catch some sleep, he’d need it if they wanted to go back home in the morning.

“Thank you, Mihawk. For… for everything.” She said, after a long moment of silence. Perona blushed a bit, knowing she meant to be thankful for more than the meal and the trip. Then, she stretched her hand and latched her fingers around his, holding his hand timidly and weakly at first. He seemed startled for a second, but then he held her tightly and said nothing more.


End file.
